Play gets underway early once more, featuring an extended morning session of two and a half hours to compensate for some of the time lost on the first day. The players are making final preparations to take the field.
Charity and Command on Display
Events are handled superbly in Australia. This fifth Test commenced with a appropriate remembrance to the victims and first responders of the Bondi atrocity, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a ocean of pink to once again generate donations for the McGrath Foundation.
Out in the middle, however, Australian generosity was in far shorter supply. Across three sessions their batters wore down the English attack, addressing any queries about their motivation since securing the Ashes and throwing up a few more concerning their beaten opponents.
Visibly weary from the effort, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps battle-weary. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had come after the latter part of Travis Head’s sizzling 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead was 134 runs overnight and looked an ominous one.
A Cricketing Icon's Opinion
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful interview.
I've been let down by England. I think the way they approach the batting side of things, they get too reckless, nobody seems to want to play a long innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against lesser sides but when you get a class side like Australia it's a different ballgame. I used to score runs at a fair pace, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball thing it takes the odds away from winning an important Test. I'd like to see them pull their hooves in.
A Baptism of Fire
Forty-five minutes into a somewhat cloudy morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts came into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his variations.
His first ball was sprayed down the leg side and smashed through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both short outside off stump and slashed over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was short and straight and smashed past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of furrowed caution, to raucous, sarcastic applause from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. Welcome to the treadmill, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Joining the Pantheon
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the height of his batting mastery, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that description is that even when the recipient has reigned supreme for years, it gets bestowed too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career enduring for 20 years. Lots of players hit their peak for a time, no other has remained there.
The amalgamation of those phases, though, elevated him to a exceptional position on the third day. In the record books of the game there are milestones, then there are summits. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-heavy career there have been two peaks looming ever nearer in the mist. Donald Bradman's 5,028 runs against England is one that even Smith will never climb. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he ascended on Tuesday.
Preamble: A Forgone Conclusion
The latest Ashes series, arguably the most disappointing series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth made history at The Oval, is limping towards a fitting conclusion. Australia are poised to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a margin not even the most partisan Pom could contest.
It's been a success of maturity, composure, skill, skill and Travis Head. His daring 123 at Perth exposed English frailties that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is happily compounding their misery. Head's seemingly relentless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will continue on 129 after making a century that looked inevitable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of flaws in their team, have won the series with an ease that is hard to understand. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably craved a greater challenge.
The last rites will be administered either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are weary, their confidence shot, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
